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Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

‘Achievement looks different for everyone' - Anonymous

At Boundary Primary School we strive to support all children to enable them to achieve at school. We have high expectations for all children and see all of our children as ‘unique’ individuals and endeavour to enable each child to achieve their full potential, whatever their ability or specific needs by providing equal opportunities for all within our school.

'Leaders identify pupils with SEND quickly and accurately. Staff work closely with families
and specialist professionals to provide high-quality personalised support for pupils with
SEND. Teachers skilfully adapt their teaching, so that pupils with SEND access the same
curriculum as others. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND participate fully in all aspects
of school life. For example, they act as mentors to others and are part of the school
council.' Ofsted Report October 2022

In order to do this, many steps are taken to support them through their learning journey.

We aim to achieve this through the removal of barriers to learning and participation. Our curriculum promotes the development of the whole child as confident, resourceful and independent learners who are able to face the future with resilience and ingenuity.

All pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Teachers set high expectations for every pupil, whatever their prior attainment. Teachers use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious but achievable. Potential areas of difficulty are identified and addressed at the outset. Lessons are planned to address potential areas of difficulty and to remove barriers to pupil achievement. With such planning pupils with SEN and disabilities will be able to study the full national curriculum. Please see our Accessibility Plan on our Policies Page for further details on the facilities we provide to help disabled pupils access our school and how we increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school's curriculum, this plan has been prepared to meet Paragraph 3 of Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

As a school we prioritise the support for our SEND pupils. Working closely with our School SEND Link Teacher and Educational Psychologists from Blackpool Council, we follow the Blackpool Graduated Response, which is available to view through Blackpool's Local Offer (see below). We also employ our own Speech and Language Therapist through the Speech Bubble Service, Educational Psychology through Acorn Educational Psychology Services, we work with Bailey and Vincent, the Therapy Dog who supports reading and SEMH as well as working with our local Special School Highfurlong.

We recognise the continued need for professional learning and we are working with Highfurlong Special School on the Autism in School Initiative. We have audited our environment and continue to make steps to provide a fully inclusive setting.

All pupils in school receive Quality First Teaching. This means that a range of teaching and learning styles are used and that appropriate learning objectives are set for all children with a curriculum matched to their needs. All our classes are supported by teaching assistants and pupils are also offered additional one to one tuition, small group work or catch up programmes where needed. Through appropriate curricular provision, we respect and acknowledge that children:

Have different educational and behavioural needs and aspirations
Require different strategies for learning and participation
Acquire, assimilate and communicate information at different rates
Need a range of different teaching approaches and experiences

We want all children to feel that they are a fully included and valued member of our school community.

Boundary Primary School will not treat disabled pupils less favourably for a reason relating to their disability and to take reasonable steps to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage to those who are not disabled and we are committed to working in partnership with parents/carers, external agencies and Blackpool Local Authority to ensure the best outcomes for our children identified with special educational needs.

For details of our broad and balanced curriculum provided and adapted for SEN Children please see the relevant subject page and their Intent, Implementation and Impact document.

The SEND policy, the SEND Information Report and Accessibility Plan can be viewed by clicking here

Spaces of Support

At Boundary we have differnet spaces to support the needs of our pupils with dedicated and specially trained staff.

The Shield is part of our behaviour hierarchy but it is also a big part of the children's school life. It is a place where children can come to talk about their worries, share their success and to help them learn all about the characteristics of an Always person so they can truly become the best that they can be. Pupils with SEMH needs are also identified by staff and through proactive workshops are scaffolded in their ability to managed their behaviours more independently.

The Bubble is a place where small group interventions and one to one work can take place in order to implement some of the specific targets set on Pupil Plans, Educational Healthcare Plans or targets from the Educational Psychologist or Speech and Language Therapists. Included in The Bubble is a fully equipped sensory room that can be accessed by pupils across school, throughout the day as required.

Acorn Alternative Provision is an EYFS area where pupils who have an EHCP or who need higher levels of adult support are provided for in school. Pupils have elements of continuous provision as well as focused learning tasks. Pupils integrate to their mainstream classroom with adult support, whilst being supported in a language rich environment where pupils are encouraged to participate in Intensive interactions, using visuals and Makaton to support early communication. Pupils have access to different types of play and learning, both indoor and outdoor. An appropriate Sensory diet is planned to meet the complex needs of some children.

Local Offer

September 2014 saw the introduction of a new SEN Code of Practice and many changes to National and Local SEN policy, under the Children and Families Bill. The Local Authority, Blackpool Council, is now required to publish a Local Offer website. This will provide up to date information about the local services and support that are available to children with SEN, and their families. Schools are required to publish their Information for Parents report with details of their provision for SEN; this is then linked to the Local Authority website.

For more information about SEN, take a look at the Blackpool Local Offer Booklet or feel free to visit the SENDIASS page or the Family Information Service Website for information, advice and support.

All information and policies relating to our SEND provision are underpinned by and in compliance with Regulation 51 and schedule 1 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, where appropriate and section 6 of the Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years - this can be viewed in full here.